Raiders era: Mark Davis takes the stage, calmly and smoothly

-OK, I haven’t really dealt with this one issue: Did Hue Jackson deserve to be fired?

I think he did some good things and some majorly shaky things, as I’ve said all along. HueJax is a good offensive scheme guy, and he’s good (mainly) for morale in the locker room.

But I don’t think you can quite view his ouster that way. You have to look at it in two other ways:

1) Reggie McKenzie is a new GM, with a new owner, and when a new GM comes in, he traditionally hires his own guy, eventually.

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If McKenzie (and by extension, Davis) was in any way uncomfortable with Jackson, it probably wasn’t going to get more comfy over the course of a season. Might as well pull the trigger now and not waste a season.

2) Also, it’s not like Jackson got the job the normal way. Now, the Raiders are trying to operate in a normal fashion, but they weren’t when they hired Jackson.

Jackson got the job in bizarre, transitory circumstance and when you get the job under the transitory circumstances that he did, you cannot claim total immunity from future change and oddities.

It’s not like Jackson had a dozen teams seeking his services as a head coach (or offensive coordinator, for that matter). He was a product of Al Davis’ last desperate years, when any coach who had an option wouldn’t dream of considering the Raiders.

The Raiders want to be a normal team now–one that will have a normal set of candidates to consider, the way the Packers do, or Rams do, or name-your-team does.

Did Tom Cable deserve to be fired for going 8-8 last year? Did HueJax complain to the world when he got the job because Cable got fired after going 8-8? No, I don’t remember HueJax complaining then.

McKenzie wanted his own guy. He’ll get him. And that guy will be judged on normal criteria, the first time that will happen with the Raiders in a long time.

—–the column/

Mark Davis is his father’s son, but not necessarily his father’s kind of owner.

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That’s not a problem. That’s good. That’s necessary. That’s the clearest sign yet that the Raiders are moving into a new, happier, more understandable and infinitely more modern era.

There is no replacing Al Davis, of course. Nobody could, nobody ever will.

That was once again displayed Tuesday when Raiders owner Mark Davis announced the hiring of general manager Reggie McKenzie and McKenzie’s quick firing of coach Hue Jackson.

No rhetorical theatrics. Everything rational and reasoned. Resoundingly normal, all the way.

Which was a big part of the point, I think.

“Change happened on Oct. 8,” Davis said, referring to the passing of his father. “And we had to bring this full-round.”

In his first true public moment as owner, Davis was the star of the show, with his own style — relaxed, wry, spontaneous, patient through some tedious questioning, direct and cagey, too.

The first message: While honoring the legacy of his father, Davis and the Raiders have moved forward and things will be different (and hopefully more successful than in recent years).

The second message: If they can’t get a new stadium built in Oakland or cut a deal to share one in Santa Clara with the 49ers, the Raiders could be moving on literally.

Which honors Al Davis’ will and testament in the truest sense, pretty much.

“Yeah, Los Angeles is a possibility,’ Mark Davis said after the formal press conference when I asked specifically about L.A. as a future home for the franchise.

“Wherever’s a possibility. We need a stadium.”

Are there tangible L.A. offers right now?

“There’s offers on the table,” Davis said, “but I wouldn’t talk about them. If there was an offer that we liked, we would’ve taken it. Let me put it that way. And there’s not.”

Do you have a timetable on when you need a new stadium?

“The timetable is yesterday,” Davis said.

Clear enough? I think so.

All in all, it was a memorable performance by the new boss in Raidersland — not memorable the way his father was memorable, but important and credible, still.

Davis answered the questions he should’ve, passed along the questions he wanted McKenzie to answer, declined to dump too much on Jackson and was quite conversational on the football issues of this season.

Did he initiate the Jackson firing? Davis says he left that call to McKenzie, who wanted his own guy, but it’s clear that the owner didn’t need much persuading.

Does Davis regret trading two high draft picks for Carson Palmer? Davis said he absolutely signed off on the trade — though he wishes the Raiders had more time to consider and negotiate the transaction with Cincinnati.

Is he following any instructions left by his father?

“I haven’t found any plans yet,” Davis said, smiling. “But I used to talk to my dad every night.”

And what kind of coach would this Raiders owner like McKenzie to pick?

“I’m not going to comment,” Davis said, laughing. “I don’t want to piss him off (on) his first day.”

Through the years, Davis’ reputation has always been that he was friendly with the players, good-natured, and maybe not hard-headed or dedicated enough to be a real decision-maker when his time came.

But his time has come, and so far, Mark Davis hasn’t blinked. First, the quick-strike hiring of McKenzie, then the steady performance Tuesday. There’s a lot more to do, but this was quite a start.

Davis said he has leaned on John Madden, Ron Wolf and Ken Herock for advice, but now it’s McKenzie’s football operation.

“Reggie’s going be running the show there,” Davis said. “But we will consult quite a bit. We will be talking a lot. That’s about all I can say on that.”

One last thing I wanted to clear up, on this clarifying day: Mark, is there any chance you’re going to sell the team?

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From the snippets I saw, I would agree that Mark did quite well. But that hairdo, what is up with that?. Captain Kangaroo owns the Raiders?

Otto deFay

This is the birth of a new franchise that is 50+ years old. Reg has so much to do and he has all the support of Mark. This is what the franchise needed to do back in 2006 when the PSLs expired and tickets needed to be sold.

Phil

What a relief. This needed to happen ages ago.

sl

cannot go back to LA makes too much sense.

Guillentine

LOL on that hair-do! Seriously, dude needs a makeover! 🙂

stanfordfan

Gotta love the Three Stooges hair… Or was that Dumb and Dumber?

Coach Ashmore

Nice hair…this look is real popular in Newark California!

Kelsie

I can’t believe I’m going to defend Mark Davis:

Let’s grow up and get past the hair thing. Dude OWNS an NFL team, something the rest of us can only dream of. Regardless of how he came to own it.

Fact #1 – he had to hire a GM. Do we want MD calling the shots? No.

Fact #2 – said GM has to have the power. If you don’t get the power, why take the job.

Fact #3 – GM is now responsible, so does he keep Hue or not? Hue had to go. If you were the new GM, you’d do the same exact thing.

Hue is a casuality of the transition. No transition, Hue stays.

But did the Raiders need the transition? YES.

And I’m a 49er fan!

Go Mark, and go Reggie.

marc

Hubert was a complete joke as a HC. The future is bright

SupriseTheWorld

GO FORTY NINERS !!!!! The real winning Bay Area team. The Raiders will be in LA within a couple of years anyway.

Very different take than Mike Silver’s over at Yahoo. I’m thinking its somewhere in the middle. Can you imagine Al Davis as a dad? Better yet, Can you imagine having sex with Al Davis so that he could be a dad?

david Burns

I’ ve been a long time raider fan. Please Spend the money for a great coach.

david Burns

Bring Back Jon Gruden.Give him what he wants.He’ll get that team back on track.JUST WIN BABY.